Here is the link to my podcast. You will need to log-in as a guest and use the enrollment key unifiedarts
The podcast is meant to be listened to while click through the Prezi that I made to accompany it.
http://moodle.oakland.k12.mi. us/bloomfield/mod/resource/ view.php?id=20934




Here is a link to the movie:


Movie 1 of 3






Movie 2 of 3





Movie 3 of 3




Timeline List:
Color Coded:

Technology
Education
Toffler
Business
Society & Culture
Musicals

Toffler:

First Wave: Agricultural Age
10000 BC- 1700 AD:

Neolithic Revolution: The Neolithic Revolution was a time when the nomadic herds settled down and started to cultivate the land and domesticate animal.

Second Wave: Industrial Age
1700-1980: The industrial age began as technology was being developed. The development of machines helped farmers increase their production and transportation which increase the accessibility of goods and materials .

Third Wave: The Information Age
1980-2000: The information age allowed people to have access to information at the tip of their fingers. Computers, the Internet and email have shaped the way we do business today, whether it is industrial, educational or social.

Fourth Wave: Communication Age
Today’s generation has redefined the meaning of communication. We are rules by our need to communicate and the way in which we choose to communicate.


1900-1909- THE AUGHTS


1900: Medicine- Bayer introduces medicine that can be taken with water. The first tablet was aspirin. It was the brainchild of Felix Hofffmann and his goal was the relieve his father’s arthritis.
www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/aspirin.htm


1901: Marconi’s Message- Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal on “the 12th hour of the 12th day of the 12th month” on SIgnal Hills in 1901 (Craig, 2000).
www.ucs.mun.ca/~jcraig/marconi.html


1901: Oldsmobile Plant Opened- Assembly lines encouraged workers moved from plantations to cities to work together in factories to create mass produced items. Even though the Oldsmobile plant was the first, it wasn’t until Henry Ford started an assembly line that it was perfected (Thompkins, 1996).

1903: Airplane- The Wright brothers create an airplane that runs on gas and has a pilot. The plane was called the Wright Flyer. Orville was the pilot of the flight and it occurred on December 17, 1903.
www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gAL100/wright1903.html


1903: The Corporate Model- Schools across the nation started taking on the corporate model. This meant that schools were run simialrily to a corporation. The CEO was a superintendent and the chain of command was drawn down to the principals or middle management and finally to the teachers who represented the workers. This same model exists in most public and private schools today (Thompkins, 1996).

1903: The Wizard of Oz- This show started as a stage production and was a huge hit on Broadway. When it was adapted for the stage in 1939, with Judy Garland, none of the stage songs were in the movie. Now when The Wizard of Oz is performed on stage, it is the movie’s songs that are used for the soundtrack.
http://www.theatrehistory.com/american/musical016.html


1904: “The Square Deal”- Teddy Roosevelt introduces “The Square Deal” a platform that he based his run for office on. The deal was a card analogy that he basically meant that no businesses man or labor man should feel that they were crookedly dealt their hand. He explains that there is no way to know which card a man will be dealt but if the process is fair than the hand is fair (Thompkins, 1996).

1904: Little Johnny Jones- This musical was not a huge success but it filled the seats night after night because there weren’t a lot of other choices. The writer George M. Cohan was criticized because this work was not quite as funny as his other work. This musical was the first “musical melodrama” and quite frankly, the world was not ready for it.
http://www.musicals101.com


1904: National Child Labor Committee (NCLC)- After the NCLC was formed it took four year until they were able to pass their first Child Labor Law. Prior to the law, children worked, in coalmines, shining shoes, piecework or sold newspapers. Many children even tried to attend night school after a ten-hour day at the mines (Thompkins, 1996).

1908: Women’s Work-Muller v. Oregon paved the roads of change for women in the workforce. By the 1900’s, women represented 21% percent of the workers and yet they earned less and had very few rights (Thompkins, 1996). This ruling specified that women could only work ten hours per day and that little step was just the beginning for women (Thompkins, 1996).

1909: National Kindergarten Association (NKA)- Kindergartens were first encouraged by James Bruce who believed that young kids could be Americanized at a young age. They taught American principals and assimilation drills. In future decades the support of this Americanization continues (Thompkins, 1996).

1910-1919-WWI ERA


1911: The Pink Lady- Ivan Caryll’s, The Pink Lady, was a romantic comedy musical that played to a year’s worth of audiences. It made Hazel Dawn a star and set a record for ticket sales in the New Amsterdam theater.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1912: Studies for Women- Colleges were preparing for the women students that were increasing by tenfold. Some women wanted to further their education but to prepare for a job a bit more selfless, homemaker. The newest major was Home Economics and this prepared the modern woman to be a great housewife and child bearer (Thompkins, 1996).

1913: Behaviorism- Behaviors are taught not inherent and therefore can be learned and unlearned at any time. There were four main contributors to the Behaviorist movement; they were Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner. Pavlov and Thorndike did most of the research, Watson coined the behaviorism phrase and Skinner brought it to the world of education (Saettler, 2004).

1914-1918: WWI

1915: Armed Tank- The first tank was commissioned by Churchill and invented by Colonel Ernest Swinton. It was nicknamed “Little Willie” and revolutionized the ability to fight against machine guns (Thompskins, 1996).

1915: Radio- The first speech transmitted from New York to San Francisco. The radio took a while to become a household name but that is because there was still a lot discoveries to be made (Thompskins, 1996).

1915: Very Good Eddie- Very Good Eddie was a madcap vaudeville musical with a funny romantic plot. The story revolves around two couples that each have partners that are much taller or shorter than one another.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1917: Montessori- Maria Montessori viewed children as having unique talents that needed to be revealed. In order to make this happen she felt that the environment should be tailored to the child, not the other way around. Today there are over 7,000 Montessori schools worldwide.
http://www.montessori.edu/FAQ.html


1917: The Model T Ford- Henry Ford wanted to make his Model T a staple in everyone’s life. By 1927, he sold fifteen million cars, with the help of his assembly line. The prices started at $850.00 and ended around $290.00 (Thompkins, 1996).

1917: War Industries Bond (WIB)- The WIB was created at the end of WWI to regulate the nation’s resources for a war while still maintaining the economy during wartime. The progressives were well aware that this was needed but it was not till after the effects of WWI were known that it was institutionalized. President was a big supporter of the WIB (Thompkins, 1996).

1919: The Defeated Steel Strike- In the early 1900’s, many workers were forming unions to start protecting themselves, physically and financially. The most pivot strike was the Steel Strike of 1919, the labors lost to the business but the effect of such a large strike poked fear in companies all across America (Thompkins, 1996).


1919: Waldorf Education- Rudolf Steiner founded the first Waldorf School in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. The school was based on his anthroposophical view and his belief that children need to understand and respect themselves as individuals in the world. Currently, there are over 900 Waldorf schools in 60 nations.
http://www.waldorfanswers.org/Waldorf.htm


1920-1929: The Roaring Twenties


1920: Radio Broadcasting- KDKA would become the first radio station to start broadcasting to the masses. Radios were first envisioned to deliver news and stations were created that allowed listeners to tune into the same frequency to hear the latest news. Soon after advertisements started to appear on the radio and businesses got heavily involved with sponsorships (Baughman, 1996).

1923: Frozen Foods- Clarence Birdseye wanted to eat fresh foods all year round and so he took a cue from the people of the Arctic and learned to make frozen food. The General Foods Corporation bought the patent for his frozen food for $22 million dollars in 1929 (Baughman, 1996).

1923: Curriculum Modifications- New curriculum was developed to “stimulate a student’s personal ambition, ideals and sense of service” (Thompkins, 1996) The curriculum focused on algebra, geometry, civics, American government and history, industrial arts, home economics and personal hygiene. It is interesting to look back and see which standards still ring true today (Baughman, 1996).

1923: Dancin’- After the war, people were flooded dance halls. They wanted to dance to jazz music and do dances such as the Charleston and the Varsity Drag. Civic groups started hosting dances at local places that were safe but unchaperoned (Baughman, 1996).

1923: T.V.- Vladimir Kosma Zworykin was the man behind the tube. He may not have been the first to invent the television but he was the first to have a patent for his invention. Zworykin developed an iconoscope but his invention was so poor that eventually he was asked to work on another invention and yet he receives the credit for the invention (Baughman, 1996).

1924: Crossword Puzzle- Richard Leo Simon and Max Lincoln Schuster were the authors of the first crossword puzzle. They published it in a pseudonym because they thought that it would fail. They were wrong; it was such a hit that trains started carrying dictionaries (Baughman, 1996).

1924: Public v. Private- The 20’s was a time of debate over public or private schools. Many Americans were distinguishing themselves through religion or certain beliefs and wanted to see those carried through their children’s education. Oregon tried to pass a law that all children must attend public school but it was considered unconstitutional. The battle over who pays for private schools continued long after the 20’s (Baughman, 1996).

1925: No, No Nannette- A vaudeville story follows three couples to Atlantic City where they are stuck in a cottage amidst a blackmail scheme. The show has two hit songs Tea for Two and I Want to be Happy.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1925: The Corporation- Corporations were originally distrusted because of the fear of monopolies but as businesses grew and grew, a form of organization was needed. The 20’s corporation philosophy was new and it was progressive “maximization of efficiency and profit” (Baughman, 1996).

1927: Show Boat- Show Boat is a musical written by Jerome Kern, who also wrote Very Good Eddie and Oscar Hammerstein II. The show takes place on a show boat in Mississippi and tackles big issues like racial prejudice and tragic love. This was one of the defining new shows of musical theater and it is because it had a libretto and the songs were used to move the plot forward not just take a break from the story.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1929: Stock market Crash- The “great crash” that happened at the end of the 20’s brought an end to an era of high living and wealth and prosperity. It seemed that Capitalism had failed after all...(Baughmann, 1996).

1930-1939: The “Dirty Thirties”

1930-1938: The Depression- The depression of the 30’s crippled the nation financially and the effects were felt worldwide. There was a rippling effect as the nation was in a constant state of poor. There were not a lot of jobs because there weren’t any consumers to sell to.

1930: Talkies- The first full color film with sound was released in 1930, entitled Song of Flame. Most studios were reluctant to change their format but after the rampant success of a few early films, talkies were all the rage. The movie “Singing in the Rain” tells a fictional tale based on the transition.

1931: Of Thee I Sing- This iconic musical was a political hot potato. The show was about a President’s run for candidacy and his platform is based on “love” but he falls for the wrong girl. This is the first musical to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1932.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1932: “Constructive Theory of Knowing”- Constructivists believe that "learners construct their own reality or at least interpret it based upon their perceptions of experiences, so an individual's knowledge is a function of one's prior experiences, mental structures, and beliefs that are used to interpret objects and events." "What someone knows is grounded in perception of the physical and social experiences which are comprehended by the mind." (Jonasson, 1991).

1933: The Eight Year Study- This study was to find out if progressive education was a success. The results, though slightly skewed by its social-economic influence, showed that progressive education was indeed a success. This helped perpetuate the educational movement away from rote memorization and into more critical thinking and creativity (Bondi, 1995)

1935: The Shirley Temple Craze- During the forlorn days of the depression, Shirley Temple was a breath of fresh air for moviegoers. In bad times, entertainment becomes an important release for the public. Her movies grossed 5 million a piece during the depression (Bondi, 1995).

1936: FM Radio- FM radio was the creation of Edwin Armstrong. The first FM radio station was W1XOJ in 1937. Armstrong had a long battle with his invention and was tied up in legal battles with RCA until his untimely death in 1954 (Bondi, 1995).

1937: Dating and Rating- A study at Penn State revealed the importance of dating with the right preclusions. A woman had to have the right clothes, man, car and had to play hard to get in order to achieve popularity. At the University of Michigan, one-year prior, the term Big Man on Campus (BMOC) was coined. The men were also rated on campus, in a way similar to grades (Bondi, 1995).

1937: A New Economic Philosophy- A new trend was on the horizon and it started with companies that were offering their workers higher wages and a competitive demand in order to increase productivity. This trend would continue to have a positive effect on the economy well into the 70’s (Bondi, 1995).

1937: Cradle Will Rock- The Cradle Will Rock is a show that came out of the Federal Theater Project but was shut down because of budget cuts. The director, Orson Wells and the producer, John Houseman, thought differently, they were positive that it was being shut down because it was believed to have a pro-communist message. The show lives on in history because the actors walked with the audience to the Venice Theater were they performed the banned show in the theater sitting amongst the audience. Later a movie was made about the show called, Cradle Will Rock.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1940-1949: WWII Era

1941: Executive Order 8802- President Roosevelt issues an executive order that attempts to end racial discrimination from government agencies, job training programs and companies with defense contracts (Bondi, 1995) A committee Fair Employment Practices is established on behalf of this order and is in charge if its enforcement (Bondi, 1995).

1941-1948: Shortages- Many vices suffered shortages in WWII and as a result some alternative items were made available in the interim. Coffee was a shortage because of a lack of transport and as a result was very expensive. Alcohol that was used in explosives was in a shortage and as a result potato whiskey was made available in its absence. Cigarettes were sent to the troops and were hard to find. Lastly, silk stockings were very hard to come by since silk was used for parachutes, to make up for their loss, women shaved their legs and drew lines up the back of their legs to make it look like they had stockings on (Bondi, 1995).

1942: Scrap Drives- Scrap drives were established to help collect items for the war such as bacon grease for ammo, old newspapers to conserve paper and hunting for cardboard, scrap metal, tin cans, tinfoil and old rubber. All of these materials were used for building parts for equipment for the war (Bondi, 1995).

1943: Oklahoma- This was the first musical by Rodger and Hammerstein and it was a huge success! The show’s timely plot could not have been better, soldiers coming home from the war were so happy to see a show that reminded them of home. The show also had a element to it that will live on in musical theater, it was called the Dream ballet, and it served a very important purpose. The dream ballet moved the story along while using to dance to tell the story. Musical theater as we know it today is not like vaudeville shows because the songs and dances tell part of the story and the book has a plot.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1944: The Butler Act- This Act prohibited teachers from denying the Biblical theories of human evolution. This would start the conversation of separating religion in education but there were many more battles yet to come (Bondi, 1995).

1944: GI Bill- This Bill helped with the demobilization of troops from WWII. After troops returned from the war they were able to go to colleges and re-enter the workforce respectively. This improved a veterans work skills while delaying their start in the work force. This is one of the many measures that were thought to have avoided yet another depression (Bondi, 1995).

1946: Microwave Oven- The microwave was stumbled upon by accident. Dr. Spencer was working on a new vacuum when the microwave rays in his invention, melted the candy in his pocket. After testing the microwave rays with other foods and building a box around it, the microwave was complete (Bondi, 1995).

1948: Velcro- Velcro was invented by a Swiss mountaineer who was covered in burrs after a hike. The burrs ability to latch on to his clothes, gave him an idea for a fastener that could stay attached with hooks and compete with a zipper. He named it Velcro, Vel for the sound it made and Cro from the Frech word crochet (Bondi, 1995).

1949: The Tyler Rationale- FOUR STEPS TO CURRICULUM: "The Tyler Rationale"
1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?
3. How can they be organized?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

http://cuip.uchicago.edu/wit/2000/curriculum/homeroommodules/curriculumTerms/extra.htm


1949: South Pacific- Rodgers and Hammerstein II also wrote South Pacific. The most important part about this story was that it showed a GI falling in love with a native of the South Pacific. Art often bridge cultural gaps and may show things that society has not yet come to terms with. The song, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”, deals with the racism values that are taught from generation to generation and have no real ties to anything other than opinion.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1950-1959: The “Nuclear Family” Years

1950-1959: Awareness of GNP- The value of a nation is based on “the value of all the goods and services it produces”, this is called the gross national product. During the 50’s, awareness became evident that the better all businesses performed, the more of a profound effect it would have on everyone’s jobs. In 1950 the GNP was $284.6 billion and in nine years, it increased to $482.7 billion. The economy was strong and businesses were building (Bondi, 1995).

1950-1959: The Appliance Boom- Appliances were all the rage, the average house had 2, 000 dollars worth of appliances in it, microwave, eggbeaters, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. During the 50’s many new appliances were added, the freezer, the dryer, vacuum cleaner and ranges and ovens. In 1950, 329 billion kilowatts of electricity were used and in 1959 798 billion kilowatts were generated (Bondi, 1995).


1950: Credit Card- In 1950, the credit card Diners Club was invented by Ralph Schneider. Credit as a system of defferred payment had been around since the 1800’s but an actual card that tallied your charges had no yet been prevailent in society. American Express and Mastercard followed suit in 1958 and became an overnight success (Bondi, 1995).

1951: Suburbia- It all started with Levittown. Levittown was comprised of 17, 447 homes with identical floorplans that had close access to shops and schools. The suburbs were allowed access to the bigger cities so that parents could go to work but allowed the family raising to happen in a safe environment (Bondi, 1995).

1954: Brown v Board of Education Topeka, Kansas- This ruling said that segregation in schools was unfair and illegal. This ruling did not really have a huge impact on schools until the 60’s (Bondi, 1995).

1955-1975: Vietnam War

1957: West Side Story- West Side Story is a musical opera that tells a modern version of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Instead of Verona, the story is set in NYC with two gangs. The story is about a gang of white hoodlums versus a gang of Hispanic hoodlums. A girl from one falls in love with a boy from another and in the end they are both dead but the message brings modern meaning to this olden tale.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1957: Sputnik Effect- The effects of Sputnik’s landing on the moon was enough to criticize and scrutinize our public schools. Science and math curriculums were redesigned and pushed on the public schools to help us gain an edge over Russia’s advances in technology and space (Bondi, 1995).

1958: Modems- Modems were invented and used to transmit signals. It would be many years before each house would have one but they were still important to the technological discoveries of the 50’s and 60’s (Bondi, 1995).

1958: Music Fads- n 1958, one third of the American population was younger than fifteen (Bondi, 1995). The world was watching this younger generation and many trends and fad were weighted heavily on their needs. One of these fads was rock ‘n’ roll (Bondi, 1995).

1959: Baby Boomers Start School- In the 1959-1960 school year, a record breaking 2 million kids started school. The baby boomers were growing up and this increase in the schools would continue well into college in the 60’s and 70’s (Bondi, 1995).

1959: The Sound of Music- The story of The Sound of Music is based on a true story of the VonTrapp family. This is another Oscar and Hammerstein II and is sadly their last show together. Whle reworking the show, out of town, Hammerstein II wrote Edelweiss. It is one of his most well known songs and just after the show opened on Broadway Hammerstein II died of stomach cancer. http://www.musicals101.com/

1960-1969: “The Swinging Sixties”

1960: Bye Bye Birdie- Bye Bye Birdie is a pastiche that is based on Elvis going to fight in the war. The songs are corny but the message is one that any teenage can relate to and so it is always a hit. http://www.musicals101.com/

1960: Higher Education- In the 60’s higher education was on the rise. All the baby boomers were started to enter college and at the same time high school graduates were looking for more training and entering colleges across America. This trend has only continued to rise as the years have past (Layman, 1995).

1962: Big Business ERA- The 60’s were a time of big businesses ruling our nation. The top fifty businesses were responsible for control over one third of the nation’s assets. The control of these businesses also expanded across the global and made them household names all around the world. Two of the biggest names were Coca-Cola and Proctor and Gamble (Layman, 1995).

1963: Drama enters College- Drama programs started to enter colleges across the nation. Starting at UCLA with a troupe of actors, the idea was to train professionals for a career on Broadway or at regional theater across the U.S. Many Universities also built state of the art theaters to support their program (Layman, 1995).

1964: Protestors- The free speech movement opened the door for student activists to engage in protests against the businesses that dealt in practices they thought unfair. The protestors had a big impact on what consumers thought of a company. Dow Chemical was involved with protestors because it made napalm for the Vietnam War. In the end, Dow quit making Napalm and succumb to the protestors needs (Layman, 1995).

1964: Where the Wild Things Are- Maurice Sendak wrote Where the Wild Things Are in 1964. This book was met with a lot of controversy. The story is about a boy named Max who runs off to a land of Wild Things to face some of his fears and change his behaviors. This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1964, as well.

1966: Hippies- As the baby boomers turned 18 to 20, a small group formed a counterculture known as hippies. A reporter named Michael Fallon coined the phrase hippie and it was based on their behaviors in combination with the term hipster (Layman, 1995).

1967: Portable Calculator- Texas Instruments builds the first portable calculator. Texas instruments went from creating a calculator in ’66 that weighed 55lbs and cost $2,500 to a handheld calculator that was affordable to the masses. http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/calc.html

1968: Hair- This musical is said to be the first “rock musical” and some songs became part of the anti-Vietnam war movement. The story is about everything that the 60’s was about, sexual revolution, anti-war movements, drug use, peace and the draft. http://www.musicals101.com/

1969: Manned Moon Landing- The U.S. wanted to be first to but man on the moon and they did it! In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin stepped foot on the moon and the every T.V. broadcast this fantastic event. Space technology continued to evolve from here on out...(Layman, 1995)

1970-1979: “Me Decade”

1970: Kent State Massacre- About 2,000 students at Kent State University were protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. The Ohio National Guard was called into the protest on May 4th but no matter what they tried to do to stop the protest, the students would not disperse. In the end, they opened fire on the students and four students died and nine were wounded (Bondi, 1995).

1970: NEA and AFT- Teachers union organizations the NEA and AFT were very powerful in the 70’s. The negotiated better pay, health care reform and retirement funds. The 70’s showed a decrease in student populations but an increase in teachers. Teachers were one of the strongest unions in the country (Bondi, 1995).

1970: Nike- Just do it!- The 70’s may not have been the economic dreams of the 50’s and 60’s but there was still room for change. A young CPA, Philip Knight, who was bored with his job stated selling Japanese running shoes and eventually saw a need for a new design and product in America. Knight created his business from his trunk to a multi-million dollar corporation that is successful world-wide. He does so by opening the door to celebrity endorsements (Bondi, 1995).

1971: Air Traffic- More than half of the population got aboard a flight in a two year span. It seemed that their airline business had been cleared for take off (Bondi, 1995).

1973: Genetic Engineering- In 1973, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer, invented a technique that allowed them to transplant genes from biological species (Bondi, 1995). The co-founded the company Genentech, Inc and continued their DNA research (Bondi, 1995).

1973: Mobile Phones- In 1973, Motorola introduced the first mobile phone for a mass market. This clunky device made its first call to Bell Labs its rival. The cell phone’s successes has sky rocketed and the industry from the phone designers, carriers and stores are now worth billions (Bondi, 1995).

1975: Avoiding the Draft- College started to notice a trend that more students were entering longer programs such as PhD to avoid the draft. Three times as many doctorates were being produced at the beginning of the 70’s. Colleges responded to this issues by cutting the number of students that were enrolling into programs or increasing the demand for acceptance into programs (Bondi, 1995).

1974: Richard Nixon Resigns- Amidst scandal and a looming impeachment the once vice president, now president Nixon resigns. The Watergate scandal will go down in history, synonymous with Nixon’s name (Bondi, 1995).

1975: A Chorus Line- A Chorus Line is the fourth longest running musicals. It won 9 Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976. The show was also made into a movie but the movie did not share the success of the Broadway show.
http://www.musicals101.com/

1977: Annie- A musical based on a comic strip by Harold Gray called, “Little Orphan Annie” was the Tony Award winning show of ’77. One of the most popular shows to be produced all over the world and two film adaptations that have been enjoyed by millions. The two big lasting musical numbers from the show are Hard-Knock Life and Tomorrow.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1980-1989: “The Greed Decade”

1980: Invention of Video Games- The first two video games to hit the market in the 80’s were Space Invaders and Pac Man. These two games made millions in quarters and went on to great the video game crazed world we are today (Bondi, 1996).

1980: John Lennon Shot- John Lennon was one of the most famous rock artists in his career with the Beatles and his solo career but to many he was also known as a social activist. Lennon was shot in front of his apartment by Mark David Chapman, who was later found guilty of the crime (Bondi, 1996). The death of Lennon was felt around the world.

1981: Dreamgirls- Dreamgirls was the hit of the 80’s...the story was based on that of the Supremes. The show won the Tony award for best show and was later turned into a very successful film.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1981: The IBM PC was introduced to the public in 1981 and it is considered the most popular “first” PC. The first actual personal computer was SIMON in 1949 but the average consumer was not quite ready to adopt the SIMON. The IBM PC paved the way for computer integration in our society and who could forget that cute green typeface (Bondi, 1996).

1981: MTV- The need for a T.V. version of the Top 40 was in demand and it was answered with the creation of MTV-Music Television. MTV slogan, I want my MTV, created by Sting was the first of many great marketing ploys to drive MTV to be a very successful T.V. channel. The first video ever shown on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” and that was totally ironic.
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/mtv/history.html


1983: A Nation at Risk- Ronald Regan’s administration published a report entitled A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. The report called for high quality education as well as equity in education (Bondi, 1996). The report also tied watered-down teaching to poor performance in the work place.

1983: Multiple Intelligence- Howard Gardner suggests that there are 8 different combinations that make up intelligence. They are linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalist intelligence. Gardner felt that schools should weight intelligences in different areas instead of only focusing on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence (Bondi, 1996).

1984: No Pass, No Play- Ross Perot passed a law in Texas that stopped students from playing sports if their grades fell below a 70% average for six weeks. Many states quickly adopted the law and studies showed that it encouraged athletes to succeed (Bondi, 1996).

1986: Consumer Credit Protection- After the birth of credit cards in the late 50’s and 60’s, consumers realized that they needed more protection. This Act made sure that lenders were disclosing “all terms and conditions of finance charges” (Knowledge Exchange, 1997).

1987: Les Miserables- This show is one of the longest running shows in the world. One of the main reasons is that it is not a star lead show and therefore it is easy and cheap to reproduce anywhere. This show also changed marketing in Broadway and opened the door to selling excessive amounts of merchandise inside the theater that you had to have a ticket to gain access to.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1988: Phantom of the Opera- This show is one of the longest running shows on Broadway. Phantom, as it is better known, is a very successful show that will continue to be produced on the bigger stages for years to come. It also made Sarah Brightman a star.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1990-1999: “The Globalization Era”


1990: Ritalin- In the early 1990’s, kids started getting diagnosed with ADD and ADHD at an alarming rate. The treatment that is most overused is Ritalin. The phrase that explains the amount of kids overmedicated in schools “readin’, ‘ritin and ritalin”.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Diagnosis for the '90s
BUNCHER, PAMELA C. RN, CFNP, MSNThe Nurse Practitioner: June 1996 - Volume 21 - Issue 6


1991: Internet- The Internet was opened up to the public in the early 90's. This great invention has dramatically changed our society and the way we function today. It was practically an overnight success, hey even I was lucky enough to have an AOL account in 1996!
www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml


1993: Dot Com Boom- In the early days of the internet dot com companies were all the rage. Low interest rates and a strong interest in the internet allowed dot coms to be successful very quickly.

  • DotCom Mania: The Rise and Fall of Internet Stock Prices
  • Eli Ofek and Matthew Richardson
  • The Journal of Finance, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jun., 2003), pp. 1113-1137
  • Published by: Blackwell Publishing for the American Finance Association

1993: The Who’s Tommy- This rock musical is considered the first and only true rock musical because it is written with the 4/4 time signature. The music in the musical is written by the rock band, The Who. This is the first musical to be written by a rock band and now we have Movin’ On by Billy Joel and soon to be released Spiderman By Bono.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1995: O.J. Simpson Verdict- Education was at a standstill the day that the O.J. verdict was handed down. I remember TVs being wheeled in to each classroom as we watched O.J.’s verdict of not guilty. The classroom tensions were high amoungst me and my 16 year old friends but outside of my school, it was very clear that racial tensions still persisted in a country that torn by the verdict.
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade90.html


1996: Rent- This iconic show was the beginning of a new generation of shows, it was aimed at attracting the “MTV Generation”. This show has quite the story and really proves that everything happens for a reason. The director and conceptualizer of the show Jonathan Larson, died the morning the show was suppose to start previewing. The hype brought in the crowds and the rest was history. This musical is based on Puccini’s La Boheme and opened 100 years after Boheme.
http://www.musicals101.com/


1998: Instant Messaging- AOL started out with chat rooms, where large groups of people could talk to one another but this was quickly replaced with Instant Messaging. Iming was an application that allowed people to talk in real time. The most popular today are AIM, MSN, and Yahoo!.
www.ocf.berkley.edu/~yrjiang/background.htm


1998: Stem Cell- Stem cells are taken from embryos and used to research about different illnesses and diseases. Although stem cell research is incredibly controversial, many great advances in science are due to this type of research.
www.scienceprogress.org/2009/01/timeline-a-brief-history-of-stem-cell-research/


1999: Dot Com Bust- The end of the 20th century brought the end of the dot coms. Stock prices fell and companies started to feel the weight of six interest rate hikes in one year. Dot coms did not have the long-term success they thought and now it was a race to stay at the top of the market and be the few that survived, ebay, amazon, expedia, etc.

  • DotCom Mania: The Rise and Fall of Internet Stock Prices
  • Eli Ofek and Matthew Richardson
  • The Journal of Finance, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jun., 2003), pp. 1113-1137
  • Published by: Blackwell Publishing for the American Finance Association

2000-2009: “Decade from Hell”


2001: Enron’s Collapse- Enron cooked the books and went bankrupt in 2001. After the scandal was brought to light, Enron became the face of corporate greed and corruption. Enron hid their losses and eventually it caught up with them but not without also causing harm to America’s financial world.
www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2006-01-23-enron-chronology_x.htm


2001: TXTNG- In 2001, 250 billion text (SMS) messages were sent from cell phone users. Since the rise in texting, a series of texting dictionaries have been compiled, in order to help the writer squeeze as many words into 160 characters. Here is a great example:
Text: nuf Z, I k%d mEt U @ 7
English: Enough said, I could meet you at seven.
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/the-history-of-text-messaging-1177228.html


2001: The Elementary and Secondary education Act (That No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) - The Bush administration passed this Act through so that schools could all be high achieving. The problem is that it does not adequately meet the needs of all students and many of the expectations are too high for all student populations. The focus is on standardized tests, which do not show what students are learning and are not an indicator of success. Only time will really show the effects of this Act.

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html


2001: The Producers- This Mel Brook musical opened at the right time April of 2001. This town needed a comedy and they bought tickets like it was WWIII. The show was sold out for months. The show is loosely based on Mel Brook’s film of the same title, released in 1967.
http://www.musicals101.com/


2001: Urinetown- This show is known as the only true survivor of Broadway on 9/11. Most theaters went dark for days but this show stayed opened and running to packed audiences. I know because I was part of the production crew of this show on Broadway.
http://www.musicals101.com/


2003: MySpace- MySpace was built by a few employees from Friendster after they saw the possibilities available in a social networking site. Now it networks as many as 500,000 new users a week and they have created over 100 millions Myspace accounts.
http://www.brighthub.com/office/collaboration/articles/13478.aspx


2003: Wicked- Wicked is this decade’s longest running show. This was the show that Broadway audiences were waiting for...it also brought something back that had been missing since the 60’s...a song from this show became a hit on the charts. Wicked has also been very successful with their marketing and it will be no time at all before the movie starts raking in the bucks as well.
http://www.musicals101.com/


2004: Facebook- Facebook launched in 2004 and started as a site that was only for Harvard college students, then opened to ivy league students, then allowed all college students and eventually opened up to the general public over the age of 13 in 2006.
http://www.facebook.com/History


2005: Housing Bubble- The price of houses peaked in 2005...only to start falling in 2006. The companies behind the burst of this bubble were even more corrupt than Enron. These lenders were giving loans to people who could not really afford them, no money down, low interest rates (that just go up and up later) and then when their interest rates started going up the homeowner had to foreclose. The foreclosures have caused a housing crisis in America. Big banks are getting handouts and lenders are closing their doors to what is now the known as the “Housing Bubble”.
Smith, Margaret Hwang.
Smith, Gary.
Bubble, Bubble, Where's the Housing Bubble?
Brookings Papers on Economic Activity - 2006, 1, pp. 1-67


2006: Spring Awakening- This show has a very creative premise, it is a rock musical set to an ancient German text. The combination was very successful and it was called a new “Rent”. The show is currently touring.
http://www.musicals101.com/


2006: Twitter- Twitter was launched in 2006 but did not become a hit until 2007 when it won a Web award and gained tons of users. What can I say about Twitter in 140 words or less...Twitter is a great way to spread news, links, gossip and humor throughout the communication age. Sign up now and start tweeting today!!!
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-Twitter-and-What-it-Means-to-Tweet&id=2429381


2007: Online Classrooms- Online classrooms have grown to such an extent that 1 out of every 5 students goes to school online. It is important to have an opportunity to learn no matter what your situation is a full-time employee, single mom, disabled. Online colleges do not discriminate and offer flexible hours and access to education.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16638700

2008: Next to Normal- This rock musical was denied the Tony but took home the Pulitzer Prize. The show opened our eyes to depression and its modern day treatments. The only down side is that the show has an incredibly small cast which makes it hard to market to smaller theaters after its run...but that is a sign of the times, Broadway cannot afford to pay 50+ cast salaries anymore.
http://www.musicals101.com/